Harbeth Super HL5+...thoughts

ahofer ...

I've only heard the Harbeth speakers at shows. The past few shows they've only demonstrated the 40.2s. I've heard most of the Harbeth line over the years and each speaker is tonally correct, which in my opinion, is their great selling point. The bigger the speaker, the bigger the sound space and the lower the bass. 

Frank

Sorry but a speaker cant sound good on one of type of music and bad on another. So I cringe when I hear people say a speaker can do other genres of music but not rock or metal. Think about it! Now if you want a speaker that has higher SPLs or adds certain colorations that may favor rock or metal this is another thing altogether. Each given speaker responds exactly the same to whatever it is fed. This is not to say that certain speakers with less detail may be more forgiving of bad recordings but this is not the same thing.  

The 40.2s require lots of space (five feet plus) from back and side walls and a very robust amplifier to avoid sounding bloated.  

I heard the 40.2's at CAF 2018 in a regular sized hotel room, and they didn't sound bloated, at least on the musical fare that they played (I went back a couple of times).  Vu (of Deja Vu) stated they need at least a couple of feet from side walls. Five sounds kind of excessive to me.

@avanti1960  Yeah, I have some tape down on the floor where I found the spot.  They still sound pretty good when they get moved around a bit, but it comes together really nicely when I get it back on the tape.

I spend more time listening since I got these.  My other (TV) system has KEF LS50Ws.  I thought they were pretty good when I got them, but I find myself itching to get back in front of the SHL5+ when I sit down in front of the KEFs for a while.